Hobbies And Interests
Things You'll Need
Instructions
Determine whether the spider is a female or male by identifying the color of the abdomen.
Look at the upper abdomen of the spider. A female Red Back spider is usually black (or occasionally a brown color) and has an orange longitudinal stripe which runs into a red color. Sometimes the stripe will appear broken. The female Red Back spider will also have an "hourglass" shaped spot of red and orange on the underside of the abdomen. The full grown female Red Back has slim legs and is approximately 1 cm long, the size of a large pea. If it is a young female Red Back, the spider will have white markings on the abdomen.
Identify a male Red Back, which has less identifying marks than the female Red Back. The male is light brown and has white marks on the abdomen's upperside. The male has an "hourglass" shape on its underside like the female, however, the coloring and shapes are pale. The male Red Back is approximately 3 to 4 mm long.
Identify the web of a Red Back spider. Look for funnel-like webs with strands of sticky silk threads hanging from the bottom.